Naruko Uzumaki, Her Daddy's Little Girl
by Allen Ramsey II
Summary: Naruko Uzumaki, the Fourth Hokage's daughter, Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox... spitting image of her parents. Stuck with the heirs to the two most prominent eye-technique bloodlines in the Hidden Leaf around her, just how will the Leaf's pariah make herself stand out? Perhaps her best lavender-eyed friend, and some odd dreams, will make the difference... Fem!Naru/Hina
1. Prologue: Flowers Bloom

_**WARNINGS: Rated M for language, violence, mature themes (e.g. gender norms, sexuality, depression, and social commentary), sexual themes, and specifically shoujo-ai/yuri with a technically gender-bent character as Naruko Uzumaki.**_

_AN: Naruko/FemNaru x Hinata... what isn't to love? I love it, thought I'd share it with everyone I could! So, some things to note are the fact that I won't be using the common bits of Japanese throughout the fic; I am an English-speaker, so I will treat this with the same plan as with fansubs and scanlation translations. So you'll see Byakugan, but not so ka, dattebayou, -san, -chan, etc. Also note that there will be things of a mature nature, without being deliberately grim-dark; Naruko will not be pointlessly sexually assaulted or anything of the sort for instance, but things aren't going to be all sunshine and rainbows, and various social issues may come up. Given character canon ages, I've decided to up them a little, so they're starting around fourteen and the time-skip will put them up to about 18. As such the actual 'yuri' will be postponed until post-timeskip, but there may be bits of shoujo-ai before that. Anyway, I'll end this note already; I'm sure you're all raring and ready to get to reading, so without further ado..._

* * *

_**Prologue: Flowers Bloom**_

* * *

"Flowers are stupid!"

The lavender-eyed bluenette looked up from the small arrangement she'd been working on for nearly ten minutes in complete silence at the sound of the all-too-familar obnoxious voice. Hinata Hyuga, heiress of the Hyuga Clan, dressed in an adorable pink kimono of the finest silks, was yet again focused on the most tomboyish, rudest, crudest, and dirtiest girl in all of the Ninja Academy:

Naruko Uzumaki... short uneven blond hair that was clearly cut by hand, dirty T-shirt and shorts that were threadbare, skinny yet with surprisingly bright blue eyes, and those strange birthmarks on her cheeks... and yet again the girl was making a fuss during the flower arrangement special kunoichi class. The teacher was sighing, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration as she plucked one of the tossed flowers out of the air mid-approach. The other big names in the class – Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka – sighed and rolled their eyes respectively as Naruko turned her back to the table and crossed her arms, pouting as the teacher approached.

"Miss Uzumaki, I have told you time and time again that this is an important part of every kunoichi's training." the teacher stated through grit teeth "This is not the way a proper young kunoichi is supposed to act you know."

"Bleh! Being a kunoichi sucks! The hell can't I just be a ninja and learn how to punch things and make fireballs like the boys?" Naruko shot back indignantly "How the hell is knowing how to make stupid flowers look pretty supposed to teach me how to kick some ass?"

"Watch your language young Miss!"

"Go eat a dick, Teach'!"

Dead... Silence... Hinata looked on in amazement at the girl who'd just stunned an entire room of young girls and a middle-aged Chuunin teacher, the latter currently with her mouth gaping in her shock. A good three seconds passed before the teacher composed herself, and roughly grabbed Naruko by the collar and dragged her up off the ground and towards the door. Obscenities and many weak kicks and punches flew as the indignant young girl was dragged out of the room and down the hallway towards Iruka's classroom, leaving the roomful of girls to giggle and talk amongst themselves.

"Geez! That Naruko is _so_ stupid!" Ino exclaimed in exasperation as she leaned back from her exceptional work in front of her "Every time we have a special class! What is _wrong_ with that girl?"

"I don't know... she is kind of annoying though... so loud..." Sakura muttered back, still quite focused on her arrangement, trying to get everything perfect "Wonder what she's doing here... she's not very good at anything here..."

Hinata kept silent, looking down at her arrangement – damn near perfect with the intended meaning of the arrangement – then looked over at one of the lilies that Naruko had tossed across the room, it's petals hanging on by a thread. She too wondered why Naruko acted the way she did, but unlike the other girls who gossiped around the room, Hinata didn't really think she was annoying, not really anyway. She was different though; she didn't try to be pretty, liked getting down and dirty, was loud and energetic and boisterous... but she was so confident too, and in that Hinata envied her, looked up to her. If only she could be so confident, so determined... maybe she could finally get her father's approval, finally meet his expectations and standards...

Luckily the gossiping died off onto other things, as it always did. They likely would have the rest of the class to themselves – yet again – while Naruko's 'punishment' was determined...

* * *

Class was ending for the day, and Naruko was just finishing up cleaning all of Iruka's classroom in it's entirety again. She looked back at Iruka with a scowl though, her blue eyes filled with her righteous fury as Iruka looked on with a scowl of his own. Stupid teacher, Naruko thought, how dare he get wise that she'd run off if left unattended for even a moment! She was _really_ getting sick and tired of these stupid punishments just because she didn't like those stupid 'special' classes and the stupid teacher who taught them. She was just like the rest of the stupid girls in the room, all about looking good and 'acting right', but none of them knew how to throw a decent punch and actually get stuff done! Why couldn't she do the stuff the boys did? They did combat stuff and learned about leadership and all the cool stuff, and that's what _she_ wanted to do, not some dorky flower arranging or tea ceremonies or 'proper etiquette' and all that shit...

"There, done! Can I go now Iruka?" she shouted as she threw the dirty rag across the room, missing the bucket by a mile as she remained indignantly oppositional towards the one authority figure that showed her any kindness, besides 'Grandpa' Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

"Depends, did you learn your lesson Naruko?" Iruka responded, matching her gaze "You can't speak to your teachers that way-"

"Well what am I supposed to do when they tell me to do stupid shit?"

Iruka's eye twitched, but he held his tongue; this girl really tried his patience, but knowing her situation he couldn't help but cut her some slack now that class was out... even though he knew that he shouldn't.

"Flower arrangement is not stupid, Naruko, it's one of many important skills that kunoichi's learn that help them to take on assignments that require subtlety and tact-"

"But why don't the _boys_ take them, huh?" Naruko spat back, her temper flaring "How come they get to spar all day and learn jutsus while we have to sit in a field or in a room and do all that boring stuff? I don't _want_ to do all that boring stuff; you don't get to become Hokage by arranging pretty flowers y'know!"

Iruka paused there; he wasn't sure how to explain things to the 9-year-old before him. He wasn't a parent, and he wasn't a girl, so he wasn't sure how to explain that that's just what girls learned to do, even non-kunoichi all around the Fire Country. It was the curriculum most importantly, and Iruka had to enforce that, even though he tried to give the girl every leeway that he could, knowing just how rough Naruko had it... he knew what it was like not having parents, but the blond didn't even know who hers were!

"That's just how it is; kunoichi have to learn these things. I know you don't like it but if you want to graduate you have to knock off the language and pay attention in class Naruko." Iruka said, calming down, composing himself as he stood up, making his way over to her "You've pissed off every other teacher besides me you know. Why can't you just be nice and show them the respect they've earned?"

"Why? They clearly don't like me, why should I show them any respect?" Naruko grumbled as she glanced out the window, watching as some of the late-leaving students and parents walked across the view, her expression saddening for but a moment before she put on a fake grin followed by a pout as she remembered she was supposed to be in a bad mood "Whatever, you gonna buy me ramen tonight or what?"

Iruka didn't respond immediately, in part because he had to admit that Naruko was right. Not only did she not have parents, but she was treated as a pariah in her own home, to her own people. All because almost nine years ago... as much as Iruka tried he couldn't be angry with Naruko for something she really had no control over, so maybe that's why he had such a soft spot for her...

"I can't tonight..." he began after a moment, then noticed her expression immediately fall, sighed, and reached for his purse "...but I'll give you some money to go and get some yourself, alright? I know _exactly_ how much it costs so before you ask no, you can't have any more today, got it?"

That brought a smile to the young girl's face, and likewise to Iruka's own. Even with everything going on, everything working against her, the girl could smile over the smallest of things...

* * *

As Naruko was leaving – 'Miss Froggy' stuffed with the yen necessary for her usual several bowls of filling Ichiraku ramen – she actually had a skip in her step and a wide, toothy smile on her face. Ramen ramen, _oh,_ how she loved her Ichiraku ramen! That and Ayane, the daughter and heiress to the business, was very friendly and pretty, not like the girls in her class or her kunoichi teacher; she made _ramen_, so she was cool! Wish she could talk to her more but... well, Ayane was busy and Naruko had to attend the academy, as much as she loathed the stupid kunoichi classes...

"Huh?" Naruko turned as she thought she saw... yeah, there was one of the girls from her class, sitting on the swing that Naruko often sat at "Who was she again...?"

Naruko couldn't remember, but she definitely recognized the blunette sitting there in the pretty pink kimono. Naruko also recognized something she knew all too well; this girl was feeling sad, lonely... she looked just like how Naruko had seen herself in puddles, lakes, the mirror... those distant eyes... though the girl's eyes were a bit odd anyway... how come she hadn't noticed her really before now?

Figuring such a cute girl didn't deserve to feel sad, Naruko put on a wide grin and made her way over, the girl not noticing her at all in the process as she looked down at the ground while she gently swung back and forth on the swing. Wasn't until Naruko had thrust her face right in front of her with her big, foxy grin that the girl finally looked up to see her inches away.

"Hi th-AH!" too close, _too close_! Naruko clutched at her head as the other girl squeaked and did the same, the two of them having struck foreheads from her swinging, surprising them both "Dammit that hurt! Ah, ah, um, hey, you okay girl? That idiot Iruka keeps saying I have a hard head..."

The blunette couldn't meet her eyes, blushing profusely and clearly embarrassed, but she at least responded by shaking her head no. And once again the foxy grin was back upon the dirty, blond girl's face.

"Good! Hey, wanna come with me to get some ramen?" Naruko asked, holding up Miss Froggy and shaking her to rattle the coins inside "I can pay for it if you do! Iruka gave me lots of money just for ramen at Ichiraku's!"

The blunette shrank down into her seat a bit, nervously poking her pointer fingers together as she shifted just as nervously. Naruko could see it, but she just kept on smiling, not really knowing what else to do. Not like she'd ever really done this sort of thing before; she didn't have any friends after all... never got the chance to ask anyone but Iruka to do stuff before, 'cept Grandpa Sarutobi but that was different, so was Iruka for that matter.

Well, after a while with no response, Naruko figured something a little more direct was in order.

"I take that as a yes!" Naruko declared, grabbing for one of the girl's hands and tugging her off the swing, much to the other girl's surprise as she squeaked out an embarrassed sound suddenly and stumbled "You ever have ramen before?"

If the blunette meant to resist, she wasn't trying very hard, or doing a very good job of it as she was quickly dragged from the academy into the heart of the city...

* * *

"THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD!" Naruko practically shouted as the giant bowl of ramen was sent before her, her legs kicking happily on the stool as she dived right into the giant bowl, slurping down a large quantity of noodles before shooting a grin at the girl with her "See? Told you it was good!"

The blunette, whom Naruko still couldn't remember the name of, hadn't even started though, still looking confused after having been dragged through town and had a giant bowl of ramen stuck in front of her. The bowl seemed bigger than her head, let alone her small stomach! Naruko however was rather persuasive, and she eventually caved, and cautiously started in on the giant bowl of ramen. She hadn't really had something at a place such as this, so she wasn't sure how it would taste, but once she tried some... her confusion faded more into surprise, then she slurped down the rest of the noodles that she'd brought to her lips.

"Hah! I told ya!" Naruko exclaimed, feeling quite proud of herself "Gotta eat it fast before it gets cold though; it tastes best when you get it fresh!"

For the first time, Naruko saw the blunette smile, a soft one, and the girl couldn't look her straight in the eyes, and still hadn't spoken, but to Naruko the fact that she was smiling was good enough. Nobody as cute and sweet as... uh... this blue-haired girl should ever feel sad! If Naruko had her way, nobody ever would...

"LADY HINATA!"

Both of the girls – and the others at the stall for that matter – turned as a shinobi appeared out of thin air with such speed that the opening of the stall was sent aflutter from the air he generated. The long-haired man with lavender eyes looked serious, hurried, and immediately looked at the blue-haired girl, then to Naruko... and Naruko saw him tense immediately, as if he recognized her like so many seemed to, followed by the look of... hatred? Disdain? Naruko knew that this man didn't like her and they hadn't even talked...

"Lady Hinata! You know better than to leave into the city without an escort!" the man began, chastising the blue-haired... Hinata, whom was again in a poor mood, her ramen ignored for now "Your father is expecting you and it is unwise to keep him waiting."

"Hey, she just started eating? Can't she... do..." Naruko interrupted, but quelled it as the man outright glared at her, the veins around his eyes doing something strange... to which Naruko growled and turned to face him "What's up with your face? Just let... let Hinata here finish her ramen!"

"This is a _family_ matter; you have no say and no place here." the man said with cold demeanor – his words carrying a bit more weight than before, and Naruko could gather the real message in his words "Lady Hinata, I must _insist_ we leave immediately."

Hinata for her part looked nervously between Naruko and the branch-house servant of the Hyuga Clan, but ultimately gave a soft affirmation and quickly leaped down from the high stool, her head down as she left the ramen stall. Naruko was... unsurprisingly not stunned. Wasn't the first time this had happened, likely wasn't going to be the last either. Now that was just one more girl in her class who wouldn't talk to her...

Glancing back at her half-eaten ramen, then over to what was previously Hinata's...

"Gramps? Can I get these to go? I'm not hungry right now..."

* * *

Yet again... _flower arrangement_. Apparently they had to schedule another lesson because 'someone' disrupted the teaching of the previous one. Much to Naruko's chagrin, loathing, and disdain, the teacher decided to keep a _very_ close eye on her this time, and made sure to criticize her every chance she got to for doing something even slightly less than perfect. Naruko was _really_ getting sick and goddamn tired of...

Naruko's brow furrowed, and she shot a glance sideways across the room, catching the lavender eyes of Hinata looking at her. Not like the others were, with a mix of frustration and amusement, but with... what was that? It reminded her of Grandpa, and Iruka sometimes... what was the word?

Naruko yelped as the back of her knuckles was rapped once with the empty sheath of a ninja-to, which stung like a-

"Bitch! That hurts y'know!" Naruko cried out as she was brought crashing back to awareness of the kunoichi teacher in front of her, who clearly didn't appreciate being called a 'bitch'.

"Your _language_ young lady! You have disrupted, derailed, and demeaned every one of the special classes we've had so far, now today you will learn or you will leave, do you understand me?" the woman spat back with the utmost vitriol, still wielding the hard sheath menacingly "_Failures_ like you don't get to become kunoichi, and rightly so."

"I'm not a failure just because I think flower arranging is a stupid waste of-GAH-AHD DAMMIT THAT HURTS!" interrupted mid-complaint by another strike to the knuckles, harder than the first, Naruko actually fell out of her seat clutching her hand this time, and could have swore she heard a familiar surprised squeak from the crowd of girls in the room...

"That is it. You have until I come back from speaking with Iruka, Miss Uzumaki, to demonstrate the propensity to behave yourself and work properly." the kunoichi teacher asserted as her footsteps and stride took her to the door, which was roughly pulled open "If you cannot demonstrate that then I _will_ fail you immediately!"

And then the door was slammed shut so loudly it echoed around the small room, silence reigning amongst the girls... for but a moment anyway. Soon they were chatting and gossiping once more, many of them even about Naruko and what had just transpired. Naruko too was for once stunned to silence; she'd _fail_ if she didn't get this done? How the hell was that fair?! What the hell did this even have to do with being a ninja anyway?! The blond grit her teeth and clenched her fist, rage coursing through her as she stared at the damn bouquet of flowers before her and her empty... wait, not empty, not now... why was it silent again?

Glancing up, Naruko saw a familiar pink kimono leading into lavender eyes and short blue hair, the shy girl blushing profusely as she began to work on Naruko's own arrangement. The dumbfounded look on Naruko's face must have been just as amazing as the idea that someone was... actually helping her? Iruka and Grandpa she could understand, but someone her own age, and this shy and cute too?

"I-I..." the girl stuttered in a feather-soft voice, eyes focused on the arrangement slowly coming together "I... th-thanks... for yesterday..."

Naruko blinked, not sure if she'd heard right. She... was thanking her? For taking her to eat ramen she barely got a taste of and for getting in trouble with her father most likely? The world around faded out, the gossiping and the staring of the other girls in the room, her eyes entirely focused on the blunette as something in her heart started to feel warm... hope? Was that what it was?

"H-Hey, no sweat!" Naruko replied, grinning and then chuckling, not sure what she should say "Uh... you uh... um... you know this stuff?"

"Y-Yes. I s-study it at home too..." Hinata responded, blushing more as she worked "Um... each flower has a special meaning... and how you arrange them says something different with each placement... and some flowers, um, have special uses for... medicine... and poisons..."

"Huh? They do? I just thought they looked pretty and smelled nice..."

"Um... they do, b-but some help heal wounds, prevent infection, others can, um, make you sick...um..."

Inside, Hinata was quite as happy as she was embarrassed. Naruko was outgoing, outspoken, straightforward... and most of all, she was the first person to ever stand up to her, and treat her like an equal, not hold her on a pedestal or look down on her in disappointment... Naruko was... she was _cool_, and it brought a smile to her face to see that big, toothy grin of the blond-haired girl with whisker birthmarks on her face...

Unsurprisingly, the special kunoichi teacher was dumbfounded to see that Naruko had an arrangement done fairly properly before her. Iruka however was more surprised – and pleased to see – that the young girl was working with another student. Neither was surprised when Naruko shot off at the mouth with a giant grin on her face, and ended up getting in trouble, but the blond was laughing the entire while, her spirits not getting the least bit down... and such spirits were mirrored by a red-faced blunette in the group of fellow students in the room.

* * *

_**End Prologue**_

* * *

_AN: This was written in about 3 hours time yesterday, no beta reader, so keep that in mind if/when you review. I hope to continue this, possibly get a beta-reader to assist, but last time I was here I didn't use one and it went rather well so... we'll see._

_Anyway, until next time!_

_**-A.W.R. II  
**_


	2. Ch1: Many, MANY Clones, One Good Friend

**WARNINGS: Rated M for language, violence, mature themes (e.g. gender norms, sexuality, depression, and social commentary), sexual themes, and specifically shoujo-ai/yuri with a technically gender-bent character as Naruko Uzumaki.**

_AN: A few more notes, one is a reminder to read the above Warnings in bold; they hit the high points of what to expect preference-wise in this fanfic. Besides that, it was pointed out to me that it would be appropriate for Hinata to be referred to by 'Lady' instead of 'Miss' given the social strata she's a part of, so I wanted to acknowledge that review here. Completely didn't think of that, glad it was pointed out though! Anyway, we shall continue onwards here, the start of this will largely follow the basic manga plotline, but there will be diverging elements since it's boring to follow it strictly and wouldn't make sense with the changes made from canon. Butterfly effect and all that jazz, anyway..._

* * *

**__****Chapter 1: Many, MANY Clones; One Good Friend**

* * *

"_You bitch get back here!"_

Laughing hysterically as she darted through town, Naruko Uzumaki and her twin-tailed yellow blur failed to really surprise anyone that saw her racing away from the overwhelming majority of the Shinobi Police Force of the Hidden Leaf. At least the majority of the 'beat cops' anyway, and over the years she'd gotten pretty good at her role in the chase. Her crime this time? Painting the cliff-carving faces of the previous Hokages in an assortment of colors and makeup designs. Insulting? Indignant? Yes to both...

...but at least people actually noticed her when she did things like that. Except for Hinata though, her best and really only friend her own age; she was such an adorable sweetheart!

Kicking up dust as she slid across the ground, the fox-grinning blond pulled a hairpin turn down a small alley, then another before sliding across the ground through a broken hole in a wall into an abandoned building, which the orphan-girl figured would be the perfect spot to hide, especially since the hole was _really_ small, barely large enough for her to slide through, let alone a grownup. Who'd think she went through something so small? Soon enough she heard them passing, and laughed triumphantly as she dusted herself off, notching up another 'successful evasion' on her mental scoreboard.

She was fourteen now, going to be graduating the Ninja Academy soon, though some would respond with disbelief. How the 'prankster', ranked dead-last in her year – and nearly in all of academy history if it weren't for a 'Rock Lee' – could make a decent shinobi was apparently anyone's guess, but Naruko herself held a MUCH higher opinion of herself than anyone else... except perhaps again for Hinata. Fourteen though now, tallest and most physically matured girl in her class – except for where Hinata 'beat her out,' though you'd never think so because of the bulky and concealing jacket the blunette always wore – still a bit lanky and wiry from early growth spurts and years of physically demanding training, her once short and hand-cut hair was now down to her rump and tied up in twin tails, and her blue eyes were brighter than ever nowadays. A blue tank top and orange with blue skorts (skirt-shorts) adorned her body regularly, the orange of the 'skirt' going about halfway down her thigh while the 'shorts' went to her knees, knife pouch on one thigh and shuriken pouches at her beltline, all designed with mobility in mind. Add to it the regular open-toed shoes and the bright orange jacket currently at her waist and you've got the complete physical picture of Naruko Uzumaki in mind.

"Hm... what to do with the rest of the paint... didn't use as much as I thought..." the fox-faced girl mused as she made her way through the building ruins towards the rear exit she knew about "Maybe I can set them up to spill on Grand-"

Her thought never got finished as she soon found herself spinning head-over-heels, the paint going flying over the building and ground around her but somehow missing her body, and the body of the 'assailant' that just flipped her over and down onto the ground. Once her vision came back to her and her head stopped spinning, Naruko glanced up and came face to face with...

...uh oh...

"Hi... Iruka..." she managed, grinning sheepishly.

Somehow it seemed that Iruka did not find the situation nearly as amusing...

* * *

"My arms hurt... stupid Iruka making me clean the paint off..." Naruko grumbled, sprawled out across the counter of Ichiraku's stall, waiting on her ramen with her friend Hinata, something that was a regular occurrence, the sprawling and the meeting of them both.

"I told you it was a bad idea..." Hinata told her as she shifted in her seat, still a little shy even with how long they'd known each other "It wouldn't have ended any other way... again..."

"They all need to grow a sense of humor y'know!"

"Naruko..."

"Here's your-"

"RAMEN!" and so the conversation was derailed as their food was set out, to the smile of one fox-faced girl, and to another one with Lavender eyes who couldn't help but smile at her friend's antics before she too started in.

In the back of her mind though, she was worried about her friend. Besides Iruka, Hinata hadn't seen Naruko really get along with anyone, in fact many people just outright ignored her, pretended she didn't exist, or didn't matter. Hinata had no clue why, but even her own father had 'advised' her not to be around her, citing nothing more than that she was a 'bad influence'. Eventually though, that 'advisement' faded, as did all other discussions between them for that matter... in the Academy Naruko was the failure, but at home Hinata knew she was... part of the reason that they got along so well, the blunette figured, even though they had never really discussed such things in detail before.

For now, she resigned herself to enjoying the sizeable meal of soup and noodles before her, wishing she had the confidence regarding the final examinations tomorrow that Naruko had. Again though, confident as she was, Hinata couldn't help but wonder about her friend's ability to do the necessary techniques to pass, especially the Clone Technique...

* * *

Shikamaru, flawless 'minimal passing' with likewise minimal effort. Sakura, flying colors in all areas, save the physical tests. Sasuke, full marks in all areas. Hinata, passing in all areas and especially exempt from the genjutsu tests. Naruko...

Well, so far so good; physical tests were good, especially taijutsu – it's what you got when your best friend was the heir to an infamously famous style of taijutsu – Transformation Technique left Iruka blushing and 'uncomfortable' while yelling at her as she turned into a naked, large-breasted 'older version' of herself, the Body Replacement too was a cinch with all the 'practice' she'd had with the Shinobi Police Department (SPD).

Then of course...

"Clone Technique."

And immediately the blood drained from her face. Her _worst_ technique, try as she might she couldn't get it to work right! Hell, she could squeeze out one clone, _maybe_, but they wanted _three_! Cursing to herself, she shifted her jacket on her body, trying to tug it down over her abdomen, or down past mid-forearm to her wrist. The downside of having the same jacket for several years and not being able to afford another, but luckily Hinata helped her let out seams or extend parts of it, but it was hard to modify the entire thing without it looking worse, Hinata kept telling her. Naruko didn't care; not like she was any good at the 'proper girl' stuff anyway; she considered it a miracle she could keep her apartment clean... after Hinata got her into the habit of regularly attempting it anyway.

"Naruko, quit stalling." Iruka's voice broke Naruko out of her thoughts, back to the panel of teachers before her there to test her "Three clones, at least, and you pass."

"Right, sure, three clones..." Naruko responded, nodding, forming the proper handseals, closing her eyes, and focusing "Clone Jutsu!"

Chakra flooded the air around her in a puff of ethereal smoke, and once it cleared a moment later Naruko could see... a clone? She'd made one! Oh thank the gods she'd made one! Looking to her other side though... oh... her expression fell as she saw the malformed clone attempt, which was _not_ a good sign. But wait, maybe she'd managed two others but couldn't hit four! She glanced behind her... back in front... back at the one clone, the other, around the room...

...oh no... there were no other clones.

"I'm sorry Naruko..." Iruka said, sighing, saddened and having been hoping for the best "I-"

"OH COME ON! Give me another shot!" Naruko shouted back, slicing her hand through the malformed clone and dispersing it in her anger "I can do _everything_ else you ask! Body Flicker, can't I try that instead?!"

"Naruko-"

"It's been eight years, _eight!_ I've tried to graduate _three times_ now! Make an exception just this once! When the hell will I actually _use_ these damn clones anyway?!"

"Naruko!" Iruka shouted back, slamming his hand onto the desk in an effort to disrupt her ranting "I know you're upset-"

"_I'M GONNA BE THE GREATEST NINJA EVER Y'KNOW! THE BEST HOKAGE EVER Y'KNOW!"_ she began to shout, gritting her teeth the next moment, then with a growl she kicked through her other clone and stormed the door.

"Naruko!" Iruka shouted, but by the time he got to the door to go after her, she was well out of sight. With a sigh, he resigned himself to finishing up with the last few students seeking to become ninja. Perhaps Naruko just needed time to cool off, then maybe they could work out a solution...

Having had the blond girl fly by her on more than one occasion, Hinata recognized what had happened the moment she felt the breeze from Naruko's passing. She tried calling out to her, but she didn't stop or slow, and though she started to go after the sprinting girl, Hinata hesitated, and in that moment of hesitation her best friend was gone. Disheartened, Hinata stood there looking off in the direction Naruko had run before she finally went and took a seat, her pointer fingers together as she thought if there was anything at all she could do for her friend now...

* * *

The sound of solid thunks followed by the cracking of wood echoed in the forest. Soon those thunks were accompanied by the slapping of some sort of water against the same wooden objects, the trees in this instance. Naruko was very familiar with this forest, from when she wanted to train privately, and the one tree she was laying into had most of it's bark stripped away, working on pulping it's innards with her fists now. The reason for the wet sound was because of her bare knuckles, and the fact she'd been at it for nearly ten minutes now; they were cut open, bleeding all over her hands and subsequently over the tree, which itself was stained with her blood from many times before. Tears tried to bead up and fall from her eyes, but she held them back, she always held them back; the real tears like the ones she felt now hadn't fallen from her eyes since... since... it's been so long she couldn't even recall the last time she'd really cried.

And she sure as hell wasn't going to start now! A cry of her frustration and anger, and the tree took another bloody whack from the full force of her punch, and yes it hurt but really she didn't care. Better to punch the tree than to vent her frustrations on others, especially Hinata, her only friend in the world; no reason to make her upset or worried about her, so she'd vent and vent and vent some more, and hide whatever she couldn't vent behind a smile. Just like she always had, and just like she always would, she figured.

Finally with her arms aching, and her knuckles raw and bloody, she fell to her seat upon the earth, trying now to catch her breath and focus her mind, clear her head before heading back to Hinata. They did have plans tonight after all, to celebrate their... rather, Hinata's graduation to becoming a ninja. Pissed as she was about stupid Iruka and the stupid test, Naruko was also extremely happy for her friend, only wished that stupid dad of hers would actually acknowledge what she accomplished...

A rustle though, and Naruko shot up, then swung her legs about to move to a handstand, then let her flexibility do it's work and get her up onto her feet facing where she thought she'd heard the noise.

"Someone there?" Naruko called out to the darkening woods, scanning the trees, both in and between them as a hand went to her weapon pouch at her hip "Why don't you come out so I can see you, y'know!"

And so the intruder did, and Naruko actually recognized this intruder; it was one of the proctors for her final examination... uh... what was his name again?

"Ah, here you are Naruko. We've all been looking for you." he said with a smile, hands in his pockets as he walked towards her "I'm sorry about Iruka; such a stickler for rules, I'm sure you know that though. I thought you did a very good job, definitely a lot of improvement from before."

Well, that certainly was unexpected. This... Muzuki? Mizuki? Yeah, Mizuki, that was his name! This Mizuki was actually being friendly to her? Naruko couldn't remember even talking to him before; he taught entirely different classes, was fairly new there... why would he...?

"Ah... sure, yeah. Stupid Iruka! I passed everything else, and I got one of the clones right this time!" she grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest and scowling, trying to keep her bloody knuckles and hands off her jacket (though it wouldn't be for long; she healed rather quickly she'd found out) "You'd think he could lighten up just once, and isn't like those clones even work in a fight..."

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about Naruko; we talked it over, and Iruka mentioned that if you learned a technique from a special scroll from the Hokage's library and could demonstrate it's use before the teams were assigned, then you'd be able to graduate." he explained, before holding up a finger to his lips "_Technically_ I'm not supposed to mention that to you, none of us are, but I know how upset you were earlier so..."

"I just need to learn one technique?" Naruko asked, hanging on every word, hope and excitement filling her heart "From which scroll?"

Mizuki just smiled, before casually explaining which scroll to gather, and then where he could take it to study up quickly...

* * *

She'd waited long enough; Hinata was going to have to get home soon, or face the ire of her overseeing servants at the home. Maybe from her father, but really she didn't expect him to concern himself with such a thing as being late for curfew anymore. It saddened her that she hadn't gone after – or found – her friend Naruko, but one thing she'd learned was regardless of how bad Naruko may be feeling now, she'd bounce back in no time flat. She was resilient, certainly more resilient than she herself was... she couldn't help but admire her best friend, her confidence, her assertiveness, her drive toward her goals... everything Hinata wished she could be.

"Lady Hinata!"

She glanced towards the call, expecting one of her branch-family servants, but instead it was Iruka, out of breath, and looking somewhat panicked. Oh no; Hinata's breath caught in her throat... had something happened to Naruko? Had she... hurt someone? Run away? Hurt... herself?

"Hinata, have you seen Naruko since her exam?" he asked, still trying to catch his breath "Everyone is trying to find her, they're saying she stole the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Residence!"

A gasp, and Hinata's face paled a little more, and her mind raced. Naruko had done many relatively harmless pranks; paint the statues, practical classroom jokes, that Sexy Technique that was a modified Transformation Technique that always made Hinata's face turn crimson with embarrassment... but she'd never actually done anything that was a _serious_ crime that did _actual_ harm, and stealing a collection of state secrets just wasn't like her!

"I... I know some places... she might take it... if she took it..." Hinata stated, struggling to speak up but managing too, for her friend's sake if nothing else "F-Follow me, please!"

* * *

"God, these things are _hard_!" Naruko moaned, collapsing against the tree behind her, exhaused momentarily, bruised, dirtied... but she thought she finally had it, she finally had _it!_ "I'll graduate for sure now!"

Standing up, she rolled the giant scroll back up and started getting it ready for traveling again. Time to take it back-

"Naruko!"

Naruko turned to the familiar sound of Hinata's voice as she came down from the treetops, followed very quickly by Iruka, much to Naruko's chagrin. Dammit, now she couldn't surprise the stupid teacher!

"Hi Hinata! Stupid Iruka!" she said with a sheepish grin as she strapped the scroll to her back "Guess you caught me huh? I know it's supposed to be a secret Iruka, but I got the scroll and I learned something from it!"

Well, this certainly confused Iruka, and Hinata for that matter.

"Naruko, what are you talking about? What secret... wait, you _learned_ something from that scroll? _In two hours?_" Iruka asked, desperately needing clarification as he moved closer, needing to at least secure the scroll before they talked things over "No, wait, Naruko you need to hand that scroll over to me right now so we can sort things out, okay?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Mizuki said-"

"Mizuki? Did he-" a rustle, a whirling sound, and Iruka dashed forward, grabbed Naruko by her collar – to her shouting of course – and threw her out of the way before he himself ducked just barely in time to avoid the giant shuriken "Show yourself Mizuki!"

A laugh was the response, before indeed Mizuki appeared in a cloud of smoke on a nearby tree, a number of the large shuriken strapped to his back and fitted for battle. Hinata was worried, Naruko was thoroughly confused, and Iruka was glaring, having put everything together already.

"Mizuki! Why are you doing this?!"

"Why? Why else! A scroll of infinite power, just sitting around, nobody allowed to read it..." Mizuki explained, the malice and arrogance in his voice palpable as he crouched on the limb he was on, his face twisted in a cruel smirk "So I figure 'why not take it for myself if nobody is going to use it?' All I needed was for that little blond bitch to work quickly and not get caught and I could have waltzed right on out of here. Speaking of... oh Naruko, would you mind handing that scroll over to me?"

"NO! Don't hand that over Naruko!"

Naruko for her part actually listened to the latter of the two, and tightened the strap helping to keep the scroll on her back.

"Now now, don't be like that Naruko. Why would you listen to someone who has been lying to you your entire life?" Mizuki implored, and this piqued the blond's interest significantly "Do you ever wonder just _why_ you're all alone? Why nobody talks to you, why they treat you like a pariah, and tell their children not to associate with you?"

"What-?"

"NO! Mizuki it's forbidden!" Iruka interrupted, fear clear in his features, his tone, and his body.

Even Hinata was curious about this; just what could Naruko have done that would make an entire _village _treat a child like a demon?

"I think she deserves to know why she's hated, why even _you_ hate her Iruka!" the rogue shinobi continued, in spite of Iruka's continued insistence that he discontinue what he was about to say "You were born the day the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the Hidden Leaf, your parents – like Iruka's – were killed during the Fox's attack... the Fourth Hokage saved the village by giving his life, but he couldn't kill the Fox, so instead he sealed the demon fox inside of the body of a newborn child..."

It took Naruko a moment, but Hinata knew that very moment what he was saying; she'd seen the 'birthmark' on Naruko's stomach that she'd always thought was a seal, perhaps something from her family given to her at birth or inherited, but she'd certainly never thought it was something like this.

"No..." Naruko whispered as realization dawned on her after those few moments "No..."

"Yes Naruko; you hold the beast that killed your parents, Iruka's parents, and all the friends and family of everyone in the village that night... right there in your stomach." Mizuki continued, as if digging in the knife lust a little further "THAT is why they hate you, why they spurn you, why Iruka refuses to pass you out of _fear _of what you could become... you _are_ the nine-tailed fox!"

Nobody spoke for a while. Iruka simply stared down at the ground, solemn, and Hinata simply stared with the utmost concern in her eyes for her dearest friend. Naruko... Naruko was wide-eyed, stunned, mind racing, trying desperately to deny what she knew to be true, one hand clutching the seal on her belly, digging at her shirt. This all then continued to the soundtrack of Mizuki's laughter, and the notable clinking of metal on metal as he retrieved another large shuriken.

"Now then, I'm going to need that scroll, and I might as well do what _should_ have been done fourteen years ago!" Mizuki declared, moments before the massive shuriken was sent hurtling through the air, on a direct course for Naruko which finally got Iruka back to the moment at hand.

"NARUKO HINATA RUN!" he shouted, but it was too late, and the shuriken cut clean through Naruko's...

...no, cut clean into a wooden log; she'd used a Body Replacement and must have taken off running. Drawing several kunai, Iruka rushed the man who used to be his friend, returning the assault with one of his own, hoping to either end him then and there, or detain him long enough for the young ones to get away. Hinata formed a single seal, activating her Byakugan as her veins rose around her eyes, and her vision widened to see everything around her for quite a distance. It took a few moments as Iruka began to engage Mizuki, but she spotted Naruko running in the distance, and once she saw that it made it extremely easy for her to track her now. She had to hurry though; Naruko was _fast_, faster than she herself was, but Hinata had her eyes and had her head clearer, and maybe, just maybe...

* * *

The Nine-Tailed Fox... _she_ was the Nine-Tailed Fox?! No, no she wasn't! She was Naruko Uzumaki, she wasn't that _demon_! But... she saw the... _thing_ on her stomach, could it really hold such a powerful demon? Was... was that why... sometimes...

In her distraction she didn't notice she had landed on a weak branch, and the blond tomboy let out a yelp as she found herself falling to the ground, landing on her back – on the scroll – with a thud that threatened to knock the wind out of her. Naruko found herself looking up into the sky then, staring at the moon through the trees, just... thinking, something even Iruka might have been surprised to hear her doing. Was that... was that _really_ the reason she had nobody but Hinata, Iruka, and distantly Grandpa Sarutobi? She recalled the looks, recalled the fear some had shown... no acceptance or understanding, except for Ichiraku and his daughter among the rest of the village. Did they really only see the Fox, not her?

Rustling, footsteps, but Naruko didn't move a muscle from her spot laying over the scroll on her back. She recognized the approach of someone she'd been around for quite a while now; soft and easy to miss in a crowd, yet careful and thoughtfully precise with every step...

"Hinata..." she groaned from her spot across the scroll, noting that Hinata's eyes were 'bugging out' again "Your eyes are doing that thing again..."

Normally Hinata might have let her Byakugan recede, but not today. She could see chakra, the flow the coils and residual around them from latent techniques; Hinata was busy scanning Naruko over, seal and all. She'd done it many times before, when they'd sparred, just to demonstrate, to try and help Naruko with manipulating chakra... never before had she seen anything out of the ordinary, except for the quantity of chakra she seemed to inherently possess for someone of her age and... well, she didn't want to say 'talent' but Naruko was dead last so...

"Uh... Hinata? You're staring..." Naruko said, rolling the scroll so she could push herself up onto her feet facing away from Hinata "...you can see it can't you? That... thing..."

"N-No! I can't..." she responded quickly, though her Byakugan didn't recede yet "It looks the same as always... all I see is... you... Naruko... you showed me the seal before, you said it was a birthmark, um, and it looked like a seal – I-I think I said so before – b-but I couldn't see anything about it to say otherwise... couldn't find one like it in books either..."

Silence, the awkward kind. Hinata felt her nerves rising, like she'd said something wrong, and started with her index fingers again in her anxiety.

"Naruko... all I've ever seen... is you." she finally managed, blushing profusely, heart racing "Determined, confident, brave, friendly... you're... everything I want to be... everything I admire... and when you smile... um... w-well... even if the Nine-Tailed Fox is sealed in you... you're still Naruko to me..."

Silence, again, but then Naruko rolled back onto the scroll, a giant grin on her face, which as Hinata had meant to say before always brought one to Hinata's own face too.

"You're even _more_ adorable than usual when you stutter y'know!" Naruko teased, laughing a bit as Hinata blushed a color that had to be inhumanly possible "I... wait, Iruka!"

Both of them snapped to attention then as both remembered just where they were after one had been off in her own little world, and the other deeply concerned for her friend until now. But Iruka wasn't there; he'd been holding off Mizuki since they left! What if...?

"We have to go help Iruka!" Naruko declared as she readjusted the scroll on her back and prepared to leave again...

Only for a moment, before Iruka – battered, bruised, and bleeding from a number of wounds – came barreling through the trees into the clearing with them. He was gasping, hurt, but not too terribly; he certainly would live and after a week or so he'd be fine or nearly so.

"Naruko! Good, found you..." he breathed a sigh of relief, a smile straining to stay on his features as he worked to keep himself upright "Mizuki... he's in custody. We just need to take that scroll back in. Hand it over and we'll go sort this-"

Iruka stopped mid-sentance, eyes narrowing on Hinata, which drew Naruko's attention too to her. Her eyes still had the distended veins and arteries about them, and Naruko knew that fighting stance of hers very well.

"Naruko, that isn't Iruka." she said simply, and after a moment Naruko knew what she meant.

"Son of a bitch! You think I'm that stupid?!" Naruko growled as she pulled a kunai and threw it at 'Iruka' with all her might.

'Iruka' quickly showed his true colors and in a puff of smoke was an equally battered and injured Mizuki, shuriken in hand and two thrown in quick succession at each of the girls. The giant shuriken – as damaging as they would be if hit – were slow, easy to dodge, especially for Hinata with her eyes. The two at Hinata though rapidly changed course, which is when she noticed the wires they were on.

"Naruko look out!" she called out as she regained her footing and moved towards her friend, who glanced back just in time to see the oncoming sneak attack.

Swearing both profusely and loudly, Naruko had to go up into the air to avoid the two oncoming shuriken... which was unfortunate, as the other two she had originally dodged were pulled back around, and Hinata was too far out. With a scream of pain, the two giant shuriken caught Naruko dead on, one through her shoulder, the other in the thigh, and the sheer momentum was enough to drag her back across the ground towards Mizuki. Again, before Hinata could react...

"ENOUGH!" Mizuki shouted, kunai aimed right at Naruko's vitals, stopping Hinata in her tracks "Now this _demon_ is going to kill the _princess_ here before she escapes, and for that she has to _die!_"

Hinata froze, paralyzed with fear as the kunai came down towards her best friend in the world, driven forth by Mizuki's own hand. Her legs just wouldn't move, her breath and voice caught in her throat, and in the most vivid detail possible with her Byakugan she watched what was happening before her. Of course, surprise surprise when she saw Naruko form a seal, and then the next moment out of thin air was another ball of chakra that formed pathways, tenketsu, and then flesh and blood limbs... and drove the newly created foot hard into Mizuki's face, the sound of his nose breaking permeating the air as he was sent rolling backwards across the ground, dazed, then clutching his face once the pain ultimately overtook the disorientation. There before Hinata stood two perfectly indistinguishable Narukos, the injured but standing one helping the other out with the shuriken wounds, then helping her to her feet.

"The clone... is real?" Hinata whispered, honestly amazed "How...?"

"I don't care what you think of me..." Naruko stated, the clone disappearing once she was stable on her feet "I don't care if I'm a demon, or a loser, and I don't care what you try to do to me. But nobody, and I mean _nobody_, _EVER THREATENS MY FRIEND!"_

Naruko's eyes were ablaze with righteous fury as she formed the proper handseal, and chakra visibly exuded from her which was practically blinding for Hinata's Byakugan. With a cry of 'Shadow Clone Technique' her chakra flooded the area in such quantity that Hinata was nearly frightened by it; she'd never seen her friend use _this_ much chakra ever before, and she seemed to do it without any real effort! The very next second and the same clone as before had grown to what had to be hundreds of real, physically substantial clones, surrounding the trio of ninja with all of their lines of sight directed at Mizuki.

Mizuki for his part might as well have seen his own death as he looked over the seat of orange-clad blond girls with twin tails and brilliant blue eyes currently piercing his very soul.

"Don't underestimate me." one of the Naruko's said, as another cracked her knuckles and continued "I'm going to be the the _greatest_ Hokage the village has ever seen!"

"I'm gonna be the _strongest _Hokage ever!"

"_The best!_"

"Then everyone will have to acknowledge me, y'know!"

"Now... you wanted to kill me right?"

"Which one of me?"

"Let's show him what happens when someone tries to hurt Hinata!"

A battlecry of hundreds soon gave way to the cries of agony and suffering that ripped from Mizuki's throat...

* * *

By the time that Iruka had managed to track down Naruko and Hinata, Mizuki was little more than a bloody mess, unconscious thankfully for him, and judging by the blood from his mouth he had quite the number of internal injuries to surprisingly little external damage. Iruka could see why as the last of the clones were disappearing around a surprisingly proud-looking Naruko Uzumaki. Shadow Clones, was that it? Iruka could hardly believe that in eight years Naruko couldn't learn how to do a basic Clone – perhaps the simplest technique in the Academy – yet in two hours of hard effort Naruko had learned how to make Shadow Clones...

He was smiling as he made his way towards them to make himself known, but stopped as he saw Naruko launch herself at Hinata, clinging to her and hugging her with that big, foxy grin of hers as the smaller girl blushed profusely and struggled minimally under her friend's clinging and boisterousness. Iruka observed a little longer, the two friends, listening in to what he could... a soft chuckle, and he started making his way over to them once more, thinking to himself that he needed to adjust the team assignments now, at least two of them... and something else told him he'd be buying dinner for three that night.

* * *

**__****End Chapter 1**

* * *

_AN: Starting a bit slow, I know, but starting slow with a structured point gives me time to make sure I'm writing the personalities and details the way I want to, which is clearly and accurately. Think of it as a good firm base being setup before building the rest of the awesome building I'm putting together._

_Anyway, I do encourage reviews, a good thanks to those who have reviewed so far, and to those who may have favorited/alerted this story, I hope you all continue to enjoy this story to the end!_

**__****-A.W.R. II**


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